Local police politics explained

Since the suspension of one of the town’s top cops, Krugersdorp Police have undergone major reshuffling of their officers.

The News investigated and learned that Colonel Luke Enslin, head of the Krugersdorp Detectives, was suspended for changing an unregistered murder docket to an assault docket.

This came after an assault victim was declared medically fit for hospital discharge, but a couple days later passed away.

The victim and a friend were allegedly assaulted behind a petrol station on 3 October last year and taken to hospital for treatment. The following day he was discharged. Two days later he was declared dead at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

In January Enslin was notified of his suspension; on the same day another high-ranking detective from the same branch was transferred to Kagiso Police.

Over the years Enslin headed many high-profile investigations, which lead to him having received several death threats.

The mysterious disappearances of the West Rand’s most notorious criminals are among these investigations.

Enslin was also the chairperson of the Anti-Drug and Prostitute Forum in Krugersdorp, which made him very unpopular among corrupt law officials.

One such officer was suspended for her involvement in a shoplifting incident at a local mall last year.

She was also recently discharged from the Krugersdorp Visible Policing (Vispol) unit.

Her partner in crime, a police constable, was discharged from the force in February. Both officers were suspended when the constable again was caught shoplifting in Randfontein three weeks after the first incident.

Another interesting reshuffle within the branch was the immediate transfer of Brigadier Henry Molegai, the acting station commander, the day after the airing of the documentary Mogale – The brave one on 1 February.

In the investigation it has also come to light that the suspension of Brigadier Dalipkimar Baijnath, previous Krugersdorp Police Station commander, was lifted since the Lewisham shooting incident involving police officers in October last year. He has since been reinstated as a station commander in Kliptown in Soweto.

Earlier this year, Krugersdorp Police welcomed another acting station commander, Brigadier Jojisa.

A timeline of Krugersdorp Police’s reshuffle:

2015

• 12 October: Four Krugersdorp officers returned fire and fatally wounded an alleged armed robbery suspect in the Lewisham shooting incident.

• 1 November: CCTV footage of the alleged Lewisham execution-style shooting was posted on various media websites.

• 2 November: Officers involved in the alleged execution-style shooting handed themselves over.

• 4 November: Brigadier Molegai was transferred to Krugersdorp Police as acting station commander shortly after Brigadier Baijnath had been suspended following the release of the CCTV footage.

2016

• 21 January: Colonel Luke Enslin, head of Krugersdorp Detectives was suspended.

• 21 January: Another Krugersdorp detective, next in line to be the head of the detectives, was transferred to Kagiso Police.

• 1 February: Airing of the Mogale – The brave one documentary on DStv channel 190.

• 2 February: Brigadier Molegai, Krugersdorp acting station commander was transferred to Provincial with immediate effect as Krugersdorp welcomed Brigadier Colonel Jojisa as their new acting station commander.

• 10 February: The constable who was caught red-handed for shoplifting last year was dismissed from the police force.

• 19 February: The constable’s partner in crime was also dismissed after being suspended for shoplifting at a local mall last year.

The News has contacted the police head of department for comment regarding the reshuffling, but was referred from one spokesperson to the next without success.

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